Races
Ãoni (Ah-wo-o-nee) The Ãoni are a tall, bipedal bird-like species. Covered in a blue to ashen white spectrum plumage, they are considered a visually pleasing race despite their gnarled hands with talons. Walking on thick, yet stalky legs and three-toed feet they are able to walk into the waters with little difficulty. With eyes varying in reds and golds, their eyesight is nothing short of remarkable as they can pin point fish near the surface of the water from a distance of 2 miles away. This function is aided by oil droplets in their colour receptors as it improves distance vision and most especially in hazy conditions. It should be mentioned that the Ãoni are also ultraviolet sensitive, meaning that they not only see a Humans colour spectrum but ultraviolet as well. The Ãoni's spoken language is erratic. Each colony has a different dialect, and while there are foundation words such as 'food', 'home' and proper names of colonies, their species, and names for other species, the grammar will vary, making an outsider of a particular colony, yet still an Ãoni, very easy to pick out. This is why their written language is preferred as it is pictographic and universal amongst all Ãoni. The Ãoni are an extremely religious and magical race. Whilst magic is a part of everyone's lives on Tam'nýer—a', the Ãoni would not be themselves without it. It is an intricate part of their genetic coding, as well as a part of their daily lives. The same goes for their religion. All is for the greater good and worship of their Goddess Ŧ'ţ'ra-'kii (th-tz-rr-ah-kee), which they speak to through their Matriarch, and permit to live through them. While religion is deeply rooted within each and every Ãoni, they are also a race of collectors. They are very protective of their stories and legends, although, surprisingly not limited to only their beliefs or culture. They have a tendency to borrow, or take from other species' legends, building their 'history' and subsequently their fanaticism for their religion. Their diet consists of fish, with a preference for shellfish, nuts and the bark of mangrove trees they call Muntade (moo-un-tah-gee). The bark and roots of this tree are also used in the construction of their homes as means of being load-bearing beams and archways of their homes. The Ãoni's reside in cliff-side caves and trees. The caves are large pockets carved out of the rock, nesting close together, and deeper into the cliffs, connected by a tunnel system. The higher ups of the colony will most likely reside in whatever trees deemed safe enough to nest in growing out of said cliff side. Every Matriarch, in charge of her separate colony, and her immediate family reside in a tree that stands on the top of the cliff. This permits the Matriarch to watch over her colony more easily, and the colony's herd of Wôrdiţ. Apart from living in colonies, some Ãoni leave them to live in the main continents of the Sky-Coral Sea and the varying Human Kingdoms scattered throughout Tam'nýer—a'. There they can quite easily make a living, as they are known for their magics & storytelling, as midwives, doctors, and teachers. Their average lifespan is around 95 years. Magic: When it comes to magic in Tam'nýer—a', it is everywhere, but the one thing the Ãoni seem to excel at most above the others is group magic. Taking advantage of their numbers, and their religious attributes, they have a history of using chants that have turned to magic over the millennia. The Ãoni's lookouts use the large tunnel systems like a megaphone to alert the entire colony by chanting back into them if there seems to be a malevolence approaching their coasts. Their voice will soon be joined by more voices that will cause the spell to grow in power and absolute magnitude to protect their colony. Soon, the entire colony would be surrounded by a protection spell; a magical barrier of which no one can enter or exit until the threat has moved on. The Ãoni are a steadfast race and will not give up or stop chanting until such has occurred. Aside from large defensive/protective spells, the Ãoni can affect their surroundings on a massive scale, altering the weather in the way of hurricane winds and the like. It should be said that chanting magic has never been achievable by any other race or member of a different race, and the Ãoni are extremely protective of their chants. ______________________________________________________________________________ Z'sa'Ză-'Bäa (sat-z-ah-bah-a) Known as The Beasts of the Mountains, the Z'sa'Ză-'Bäa are a simplistic folk. The legendary herders of the Wôrdiţ, and ferocious hunters of the lands they dwell in. These people are a distant cousin to the Khah', though they take great insult when they are confused for being the same race. The Z'sa'Ză-'Bäa believe that they have always been their own race and that no such kin has been shared between either race. They average in height from 5'5” and 6' in both women and men. They have slender fur-covered tails that show a great deal of their moods. They have large fangs, though smaller than the Khah' in comparison. Their fur patterns range from solid colors like black, white, reds, browns, golds, and sometimes they can have varying color patterns of stripes and spots. Some of these fur patterns can show up on their skin in specific locations such as the shoulders, back of the neck, sides of the face, and along the outer thighs. They also have strong, sharp claws that are ideal for climbing. Their eyes range from yellow to green, on rarer happen stances they have brown to red, on the rarest occasion they will have blue eyes. Their faces are typically angled and sharp in feature, though some females can have much more delicate features. Z'sa'Ză-'Bäa are a rather friendly race when it comes to trades and interactions among the other races around the world, but the ones that dwell in the mountain have closer interactions with the Ãoni. They have a fair yearly trade of materials when herding the Wôrdiţ for the Ãoni. The Z'sa'Ză-'Bäa consider the Ãoni with awe and have a need for the spices, fungi, and wood that can only grow where the Ãoni live. Their main go to for travel is their small catamarans, which ferry them across the oceans to the Ãoni. While the Z'sa'Ză-'Bäa are a simplistic folk in the mountains, there are a fair amount of settlements living among the Human Kingdoms in Pũertagœ and some live near the Giyu of the Golden Coasts. These specific settlements have come to appreciate intellectualism to a greater degree while cohabiting with the other species'. These settlements do not differ greatly from their kind in the mountains, albeit they do have a tendency to adopt and adapt with cultures when living outside their own homeland T-'a'Ţăs'múr (ta-tz-tah-su-mur-h). ______________________________________________________________________________ Sk'älik (sky-ay-lick) Usually hunchbacks with long faces almost seamlessly transitioning to neck. Along the elongated neck that sticks out and forward are 5-6 sets of gills. 6 gills is a normal mutation that can happen but is rare among the species. With milky white translucent eyes, worn down gums, and needle-like teeth, the Sk'älik people are terrifying upon first meeting one. One thing to note about this species is that the women lack the forward neck, and have one more akin to a Humans, but are simply elongated. Their arms are are muscled flesh similar to ours, but their hands are made of wispy cartilage tendrils coiled tightly much like that of a steel rope cable. These tendrils, though looking weak, carry great strength, and may unravel to grip multiple objects at once. It is a biological advantage if one were to ever get into a fight with a Sk'älik and not know this of their anatomy. The Sk'älik are not simply one country made of its peoples but have various towns referred to as Insulars within the depths of the ocean. Their main homeland Sk'ïenaik (sky-e-nigh-ik) lies on the bottom of the main ocean of Tam'nýer—a'. Although their homeland does not permit outsiders, it has a massive Insular attached that floats 160 fathoms (960 feet) above Sk'ïenaik that is mainly for trading and an intermingling of cultures, which is also a Sk'älik's first introduction to the outside world if born in their homeland. The Insulars of the Sk'älik seem like an illusion in the distance when traveling underwater. Usually carved out of the dried husk of an ancient creature resembling that of a fried egg jellyfish spanning hundreds of meters wide, or platforms akin to bleached coral reefs are these miniature ports of civilization. At a higher elevation than their homeland, much like the main Insular, these places offer the Sk'älik a way to interact and trade with the other races and are the marketplaces of sea-dwelling and land-dwelling creatures alike. All insulars other than the main one attached to Sk'ïenaik are only a couple hundred feet under the surface of the ocean as a means to be more accessible to the other species'. The Sk'älik are scavengers, and because of this they will almost do any sort of trade if it is for food. While this may seem nothing more than basic primal instincts and give off an assumption that they are dim-witted, the Sk'älik are tricksters. In their mindset, if they control the majority of food, they will be the richest nation if ever wars occur, or win wars in ways of attrition. This is also heavily attached to their history as their civilization was pushed to the brink of extinction by hyper-focusing on the domination of the oceans against the Giyu, and were blindsided by their lack of attention to supplies for their people. The Sk'älik population throughout its towns and nation is approx. 502,000. While this may not seem very prosperous it can be attributed to the fact of the war with Giyu for oceanic dominance and the fact that the term of pregnancy for the Sk'älik is 3 to 3 and a half years. However, it should be mentioned that the litters are 2-15 per pregnancy. Likewise, their lifespans are estimated at 27 years maximum. Magic: Sk'älik magic is a sacrificial one, giving up things in exchange for power or an effect. This most often comes in the form of the most precious resource the Sk'älik have: food. For whatever reason Sk'älik magic is the hardest for any other race to comprehend. Something about the deep belief required and the sheer amount of emotional pain required eludes most other species. ____________________________________________________________________________ Khah' Beautiful, alluring, mysterious. Instantly recognized for their long lush fur tails and cultural tattoos, the Khah' would be considered the 'lover race'. Their aesthetic and inherent sexuality also makes them a desired commodity. That being said, most brothels, including those in major cities are usually run by a member of the Khah' species. Knowing this as part of their reputation makes it less surprsing that the Khah' have a certain knack above all other races for their care of not only base sexual needs, but the environment, and ability to co-exist with some of Tam'nyer-a''s most dangerous species be they flora or fauna. A good example of this is their mutualistic relationship with the Lopikăş , a large ominous-looking flying creature. The Khah' living high up in the jungle rarely travel to the jungle floor unless in big groups usually strictly for moving and hunting. The Khah; feed the Lopikăş the bones of their kills, and in essence, usethem as a live-in garbage disposal, and the Lopikăş get a free meal. Their homeland Uwhang, (oo-f-ah-ing), is recognized as the sole lasting jungle continent (not to be mistaken for rain forest, as the density of vegetation on the ground and in the canopy is notable in comparison). Uwhang is like a different world. In all of Tam'nýer—a' where water is abound, in the depths of Uwhang, everything whilst being wet, seems a stark contrast to the bright, water-bound land masses. Uwhang is loaded with tall trees, and dense vegetation. Looking up you very quickly realize that above the jungle floor are webs of living bridges connecting the metropololis in the trees.